44 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



of mechanical aids. Aside from the "free-spools," 

 reels in which by an ingenious arrangement the spool 

 is freed from the handle at the will of the operator, 

 we have many special reels, winches which well 

 might be denominated "freak reels," of questionable 

 value and seldom of lasting merit. Each season, al- 

 most, some inventor produces a new reel, something 

 which he fondly believes is going to revolutionize 

 casting and reel manufacture, but usually in a few 

 months the invention is forgotten. Always I am, 

 like all anglers, interested in these freaks, and en- 

 joy trying them out, but I much doubt their perma- 

 nent value. Personally I believe that the old tried 

 and true type of reel is the best all around winch for 

 the caster who wishes to become master of rod and 

 lure. 



ARISTOCRATIC REELS 



Before I take up the discussion of special types 

 I wish to pause for a moment to consider what I am 

 pleased to term "aristocratic reels," such manifest 

 blue bloods are they. 



Some anglers seem to imagine that these high 

 grade reels are produced to sell simply, that they 

 are in nowise better tools than those selling at a 

 much lower figure; in other words, it is the name 

 upon the head-plate that makes the price. Once let 

 a fair minded caster examine one of these high class 

 reels, put it on his rod and cast a few times, and he 



